Breakout (Kraken Prop) vs ROMER

How Breakout works

Breakout describes itself as “a crypto prop trading firm backed by Kraken, operating since November 2023” in the summary it publishes for AI tools. You pay once for one of three single-phase evaluations and pass by reaching the upgrade target without breaking either loss limit. Breakout’s help centre gives the figures for a $100,000 account: 1-Step Classic allows a 6% maximum drawdown with a $10,000 target, Pro 5% with $12,000, and Turbo 3% with $9,000. All of them have a 3% daily loss limit. Kraken sells the same three plans, with the same targets and drawdowns, as Kraken Prop Starter, Intermediate and Advanced inside Kraken Pro. Its Kraken Prop page prices a $50,000 evaluation at $400, $280 or $180, paid once.

The rule set is short, and that is much of Breakout’s appeal. There are “no time limits, no minimum trading days, and no consistency rules”, and payouts are “on-demand, 24/7, in USDC on Ethereum”. The maximum drawdown is static, so profits never move the floor. Kraken tells buyers that “the evaluation fee is your only financial risk”. Breakout also builds its fills from real liquidity data. Its prices, spreads and book depth mirror live-market conditions, and “Your order fills against the same book depth you’d face on a live venue” (help centre). For futures traders it has added Spark, a $50,000 evaluation with a $1,500 trailing loss limit whose index instruments are sized against NQ and ES, though Breakout says this “does not imply CME execution”.

After passing, you complete identity checks and sign a separate Funded Trader Agreement with Payward Oceanic, Ltd, which provides the funded accounts. The two brands describe that account differently. Breakout’s help centre says “Your funded account trades on simulated capital, not real capital”, while Kraken’s support article says that after activation “you trade with real funded capital”. If it matters to you whether your trades reach a market, read the agreement before you pay, because sim-funded and live-funded accounts work differently.

Bots, APIs, HFT and servers

Kraken Prop answers the bot question plainly in its FAQ: “No, Kraken Prop does not currently offer API access. This applies to both evaluation and funded accounts. All orders on a Prop account are placed manually through the trading interface.” Breakout’s own help centre has no article on bots, APIs or automated trading. We searched it for those terms on 30 September 2026 and found nothing, so Breakout neither allows nor bans automation in writing.

Several of Breakout’s prohibited practices would still bear on an algo. The evaluation list bans “Exploiting errors or latency in pricing or the platform” and “Using a third-party or off-the-shelf approach marketed specifically to pass evaluations”. It also rules out “strategies that are difficult to replicate in live markets or carry outsized risk when replicated”. HFT isn’t named. On speed, Breakout’s Program Rules reserve the right “to subject orders to additional latency in order to prevent latency arbitrage”.

Breakout doesn’t state a VPS rule. It allows a VPN “as long as it’s not used to conceal or misrepresent your jurisdiction”, and you must turn it off for identity checks. We found nothing resembling colocation at either brand, and the evaluation has no exchange to sit beside: Breakout sources pricing from “third-party brokers, market makers, exchanges, and other liquidity providers”, and says “No real trades are placed” (help centre).

How ROMER differs

ROMER is our funded-trader program for algorithmic and high-frequency traders. Every term below is planned and may change.

The largest difference is where your code runs. We run each trader’s algo on our own hardware inside the exchange’s data centre, known as colocation, so you won’t need a VPS or servers of your own. Our latency design target is under 1 microsecond, against roughly 30 milliseconds for a home connection to a simulator, and both figures are illustrative. Bots, algos and HFT are allowed at every stage, while spoofing and other manipulative trading aren’t. We monitor every order, and exchange message limits apply.

The route to funding is longer than Breakout’s. Stage 1, a simulated evaluation, takes at least 3 trading days. Stage 2, Verification, lasts at least 10 new trading days, and your algo has to pass again. Fills are still simulated, and the second pass is meant to show the first wasn’t luck. After that the best algos trade our capital on the real exchange, and the trader, an independent contractor, keeps 80% of real profits. Funding isn’t guaranteed. ROMER is built for futures and digital-asset derivatives.

We plan to charge monthly: $149 for the $25K Starter, $249 for the $50K Pro and $399 for the $100K Elite, with no activation fee. The fee covers running your algo on our hardware at the exchange. Breakout charges once, $400 for its $50K Classic, and sets no time limit.

Who should pick which

Breakout fits a discretionary crypto trader who wants to pay once and keep the rules short. The one-time fee and payouts on demand suit someone who places trades by hand, there is no time limit or consistency rule to trade around, and Kraken Pro users get a screen they already know. If trading real capital matters to you, settle the funded-account wording with Breakout or Kraken first.

Breakout fits poorly if your strategy only exists as code, because Kraken Prop takes manual orders only and Breakout publishes no rule that permits bots. For a slower crypto bot, HyroTrader and Velotrade both allow API trading, within their own HFT bans (HyroTrader vs ROMER). ROMER is for the algo trader whose edge depends on speed and who wants the code to run at the exchange. Choosing ROMER also means trading at least 13 trading days before any funding decision.